North Carolina State University Athletics
O'Brien Wants Pack to Learn from Mistakes
9/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 12, 2011
Raleigh, N.C. - Despite nearly piloting NC State back from a 21-point third quarter deficit on Saturday, head coach Tom O'Brien could not hide his disappointment in the result at Monday's press conference at the Murphy Center.
"The only good thing about the Wake tape is that [the team] was as disappointed, or more disappointed than I was about it," said O'Brien. "We have to practice better, and go back to the fundamental aspects. A lot of the breakdowns were individual things that allowed big plays to happen."
Third-down efficiency stood out among the defense's shortcomings at Wake Forest, as the Wolfpack defense struggled to get off the field, allowing Deacons an 8-of-16 conversion rate. O'Brien says that he will address the issue this week, but also mentioned that an injury-depleted front four has played a part in the problem.
"[Third downs have] always been a key and it's certainly something that we have to correct," said O'Brien. "The situation that we're in right now is that our three best pass rushers aren't playing, and that's taken us a little bit out of it. We weren't able to get any pressure on the quarterback with our front four in those situations."
Help may be on the way, in the form of senior defensive end Jeff Rieskamp. Though O'Brien stressed that Rieskamp would be questionable for Saturday, he hinted that the recovery was progressing.
"If [Rieskamp]'s able to get on the practice field Wednesday, we'll see what he has and go from there, but I don't think he'll be ready this week."
In the positive column, O'Brien mentioned impressive performances by the offense and special teams. In only his second career start, NC State quarterback Mike Glennon went 24-of-41 to throw for 315 yards and three touchdowns, keying on wide receivers Tobais Palmer and T.J. Graham, who combined for 213 yards and two touchdowns.
"I thought Glennon played extremely well," said O'Brien. "To be put in that situation, in his second game, and make the plays he made, that shows maturity beyond a second start. T.J. and Tobais made plays on the perimeters, so that's a positive for us, and we gave up no sacks under a lot of pressure."
The special teams also drew praise from the coach, as O'Brien highlighted freshman punter Wil Baumann landing three kicks inside the opponent's 20 and Niklas Sade career-long 45-yard field goal into the wind.
This week, the Wolfpack will need to right the ship against a South Alabama squad still awaiting its first loss entering the third year of its program's history. Kickoff for the game is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET at Carter-Findley.
